In states where Puerto Ricans fled to escape the devastation of their homes from Hurricane Maria, many of the evacuees were granted Temporary Shelter Assistance (TSA) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
FEMA is cutting off the funds for many of those evacuees who are currently living in hotels/motels in cramped conditions. One of the reasons they have decided that these evacuee families are “ineligible” to continue to receive assistance is because their homes in Puerto Rico are “habitable.”
I have been following these evacuee stories for a while, and as reported — none of them really defines what FEMA means by “habitable.”
I tweeted FEMA official, Daniel Llargués, who is listed as a Public Affairs worker for FEMA, His twitter profile says “National Spanish Spokesperson.” He is quoted in many of the stories about the cut off. I got this response (such as it is).
Here is the twitter exchange:
Rough translation:
The governor requested the extension of #TSA and requested these criteria to be eligible for the program
Damage to housing and have utilities / services such as water and electricity
Verification of housing occupancy
Duplication of applications
Not the primary residence
My response:
Translation:
Thanks for your reply. This does not answer my question about the roof (the tarps), or official meaning of "habitable." Does having electricity mean a generator?
So far — no reply.
This news report from Connecticut echos my thoughts — see the reporter place air quotes around “habitable.”
FEMA to stop paying for hotels for Puerto Rican evacuees in CT
Those evacuees are still here because conditions are still so bad back in Puerto Rico. An explosion and fire at a power substation this weekend set back efforts at restoring electricity, and DeLauro saw the rest of the physical devastation on a visit to Puerto Rico less than 3 weeks ago.
“Still, not everyone is able to have clean drinking water,” DeLauro said. “We’re looking at houses that have blue tarps on them, but not a roof over their heads.”
The federal government has been paying for their hotels here until they could go back there. Five months later, FEMA now says it is going to stop paying for those rooms for anyone whose house in Puerto Rico is deemed “habitable.”
“Habitable means it has to have a roof, electricity and water, and a roof could be a blue tarp roof, we all understand that,” explained New Haven Deputy Director of Emergency Operations Rick Fontana.
Aid groups here are stepping up to help evacuees stay in Connecticut longer, because they believe US citizens deserve more than a tarp.
“I understand that it’s habitable, the four walls are up and you have a roof over your head of some sort,” Serrecchia said. “But somebody that’s dealing with disabilities or very young children you know, now we have to think about their health and their well being.”
I wrote about the blue tarp situation in Puerto Rico in “About those 'temporary blue roofs' in Puerto Rico.”
I wonder how many FEMA officials would opt to stay in the “habitable” housing they have deemed acceptable?
For those of you with twitter accounts — it would be helpful if you could retweet some of these stories which are getting lost in all of the other major news of the day, and/or find them and share on facebook and other social media — thanks!
Time Is Running Out for Puerto Ricans Sheltering in Hotels
Nearly 4,000 families spread across 40 states and Puerto Rico remain in hotels under FEMA’s transitional sheltering assistance program, federal officials said. Most families — more than 1,500 — were in Florida, while hundreds of others were in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. More than 800 were in hotels in Puerto Rico.
Most of the stays have been extended until March 20, but about 200 households have been alerted that FEMA would stop paying for their rooms as of Wednesday. The agency had already cut off assistance last month for some households after federal officials determined that their homes in Puerto Rico were habitable and had functioning utilities.
Puerto Rican hurricane evacuees in Philadelphia: 'No help at all'
After Hurricane Maria left his house in Puerto Rico flooded and without electricity last year, Jesus Rodriguez sold his Toyota 4Runner for $4,000 and bought his family one-way plane tickets to Philadelphia.
Rodriguez arrived first, on Oct. 25. His wife, Sandra Martinez, flew in with their three boys on Nov. 23. They used some of the car money to rent a house in the city’s Fairhill section, hopeful they would soon get the emergency assistance they were told was coming from the federal government.
“We got here three months ago,” Rodriguez said last week in his empty living room. “And there has been no help, no help at all, nothing.”
Graham Calls on Trump to Extend Housing Assistance for Displaced Puerto Rican Families
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham is calling on President Donald Trump and FEMA to extend housing assistance for thousands of Puerto Ricans living in Florida and across the country until the island and their homes are safe for them to return.
“When Donald Trump travels to Central Florida this week, he should visit the displaced Puerto Rican families living in Orlando and Kissimmee hotels, look them in the eyes, then try to explain his heartless decision. Ending assistance for Puerto Rican families while many of their homes are still without power or remain unsafe is unconscionable,” Graham said.
FEMA has already ended the assistance program for many Puerto Ricans and is threatening to terminate hotel stays for about 200 more families on Wednesday. The agency then plans to end assistance for the thousands of remaining families in the program, next month.
Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria face end of FEMA housing aid
According to Sarah Mickelson, the director of public policy for the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, the hotel solution isn’t exactly ideal. Families with limited budgets face more challenges conserving limited funds without access to a kitchen, and it’s not a great long-term housing solution.
But while the thousands in FEMA hotels would be better served by long-term housing assistance, it’s better than nothing. And cutting it off before people can be settled—and not setting up the Disaster Housing Assistance Program, used to provide long-term housing support—goes against precedent set by other recent responses to similar natural disasters.
“Why is FEMA unlearning the lessons from Katrina and other storms?” she says. “These programs were used successfully after Sandy, Ike, Gustav. It’s been used successfully many times, but for some reason, this time around, FEMA isn’t interested in using this as a solution.”
Mickelson says FEMA wants to transfer funding responsibility to the states, which would be fine, if not for huge delays her and other advocates have noticed providing support at the state level. Partner organizations in Texas and California have told her that people don’t have many options, and that “the signs were all there that long-term housing solutions were needed.”
Please contact your elected officials about the FEMA cutoffs.
If you live in an area that is housing evacuees — contact and support the agencies that are fighting to get them continued assistance.
Just a thought — I wonder if the FEMA cutoffs are related to Republican worries that the influx of Puerto Ricans to the mainland may have an impact on upcoming elections?